Tariq Nabi Bhat
Srinagar, Feb 29,: Over 40% of referrals from rural hospitals to Kashmir’s premier maternity specialty Lalla Ded Hospital turn out ingenuine. These unauthentic referrals overburden Srinagar’s LD Hospital.
Medical Superintendent LD Hospital Dr Muzaffar Jan said that the Secretary Health and Medical Education recently sought data about ingenuine referrals and the same was provided to him.
“Secretary Health and Medical Education even sought the names of those doctors who unnecessarily referred the patients with labor pain to LD Hospital. Hopefully, action will be initiated against those doctors and that will be a deterrent for other doctors in the future,” Dr Jan.
In response to a question, the Medical Superintendent LD Hospital said that they treat even those patients who are being referred on flimsy grounds as they can’t send back patients who arrive in the hospital from Uri, Kupwara, and Anantnag.
He said for the past couple of years, LD Hospital has witnessed thousands of referrals and most of them were unauthentic referrals. “This surge in referrals mostly ingenuine has placed an immense burden on the healthcare facilities in our hospital,” Dr Muzaffar Jan said. Maternity care in Kashmir Valley heavily relies on Lalla Ded Hospital, and the increasing number of referrals is straining its resources.